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BATON ROUGE – Through nearly three weeks of spring practice at LSU, the hot wide receiver is not Travin Dural, Trey Quinn, John Diarse or Malachi Dupre.

Try Darrell Chark Jr., better known as D.J., the former Alexandria Senior High and All-Cenla standout. As a freshman last season, he caught zero passes in six games. Through two Saturday scrimmages, Chark has caught so many touchdown passes that coach Les Miles has lost count.

"He caught two or three today," Miles said Saturday. There was also a touchdown reception from quarterback Brandon Harris in LSU's first spring scrimmage on March 14.

"It's four," Chark said after a recent practice.

What has caught the coaches' and players' eyes more than the touchdowns, though, has been Chark's consistency. Asked if he has caught everything thrown his way, he said, "That's the plan. So far. Yes, sir."

Chark, who looks like a track athlete at 6-foot-2 and 184 pounds, was signed by LSU for his speed. With some challenges from safety Jamal Adams, tailback Leonard Fournette and Dural, he is the fastest player on the team. But Miles' appreciation of his hands is growing.

"He's done a nice job of catching the football," Miles said. "He's improving each time he steps on the field. One thing about D.J. is that he has speed and ability."

Still noticeably thin, Chark has gained almost 10 pounds since last fall. His confidence has had the greatest growth spurt, though.

"Through the roof," LSU quarterback Anthony Jennings said. "He's one of the most explosive guys we have on the team speed wise. But he came out this spring working his hands and his feet."

Chark struggled to get playing time last season amid the likes of super freshmen signees like Quinn and Dupre along with redshirt freshman Diarse and Dural, who will be a junior in the 2015 season. But that did not stop him from learning — thanks to the girth of talent in the LSU secondary.

He often faced cornerback Jalen Collins in practice. Collins, who could not beat out cornerbacks Tre'Davious White and Rashard Robinson (before his dismissal), is now expected to go in the first round of the NFL Draft as a junior despite recent minor foot surgery.

"He was very tough," Chark said. "I think that brought me along as well — going against some of the best cornerbacks in the nation. I mean that will bring anybody along. Playing against our DBs, you have no choice but to get better with our routes. In the SEC, every corner is fast as well. So, you're not going to just run by too many corners."

Chark also has learned how other receivers' routes help his route and vice versa on a given play.

"I've improved the most at attention to detail and doing things how the coaches want it done," he said. "When you pay attention to the way things are and the way routes are supposed to be run, it does get you open. It has been getting me open. And when I'm not open, I'm getting our other receivers open. Learning the system is the biggest part."

Chark finds himself learning from a different coach along the way. Former Georgia running backs coach Tony Ball recently became LSU's wide receiver coach, replacing Adam Henry after he took the same job in the NFL at San Francisco last month.

"It's tough because coach Henry recruited me, and I feel like he taught us a lot of life lessons," he said. "And it's another life lesson that he left. He did what's best for him. He taught us a lot that we know. Coach Ball is picking up where he left off. Same offense."

Ball wants all his receivers ready regardless of what their spot on the depth chart may be come next season.

"Coach Ball always says you always want to be prepared to be on the field," Chark said. "So basically you've got to make sure you're doing everything right so when you are on the field, you won't mess everything up and you'll have the right chemistry."

So far this spring, Chark apparently has the right chemistry with both Jennings and Harris and is hopeful of much more playing time in 2015 than in 2014.

"I felt like my first year was a year to learn, and I'm still learning," he said. "We all came in with the idea of wanting to play last year, but once you get here you realize that some people are more advanced and some people need to learn more. I'm getting better. At this point, I feel like we all know most of the offense. We're all getting to the point where we can all contribute."